How to list work and volunteer hours for caspa

[hhn127]

I just had a few questions about how I should list volunteer hours on my CASPA application.

 

1. I volunteered as a candy striper in high school and accumulated ~300 hours. Should I list this on my application because it shows my dedication to the healthcare field? Or should I refrain from including activities that I completed prior to college?

 

2. I completed a field study at a childcare center in college. Basically, I was a teacher's aide for the children there. I wasn't paid, as it was part of a class, but I still completed ~100 hours of work. Should I list this under community service?

 

3. Finally, some program websites list their Patient Care Experience hours in more general terms than the CASPA application. For example, one school's website has a minimum 100 hour requirement for direct patient care, but states that, "Direct patient health care experience can be in many forms, including, but not limited to, a paid or unpaid position as a health care provider in another profession, a paramedic or an EMT, a medical assistant, shadowing a Physician Assistant, a hospital volunteer, or any other circumstance where there is direct face-to-face contact in a patient care environment."

 

Should I, then, list my hospital volunteer experience as Patient Care Experience? Or should I follow the guidelines made by CASPA and hope the school still recognizes it as part of the requirement?

 

P.S. I do have additional HCE working as a phlebotomist, but I still want to log all of the hours I've earned.

 

Thank you!

[dkwee]

For #3, I would post your HCE the way CASPA wants it, and let the admissions committee sort out the hours according to their guidelines -- they are reviewing your whole application in its entirety, after all!